Warner et al, identified above, discloses an active device mount assembly comprising an active device base and an active device mounted thereto and interface mount for attaching a fiber optic connector, the connector having an alignment ferrule and optical fiber extending therethrough. The interface mount comprises a base with the front socket extending therefrom. The base has a longitudinal axis and an axial bore. Further, the interface mount includes at least two resilient catch pieces extending from the base. The catch pieces are in cantilever form extending parallel to and on opposing sides of the longitudinal axis of the front socket. The catch pieces terminate in protrusions and lip structures.
While Schaffer et al. teaches an active device mount (ADM) secured within a housing and combined with an interface mount for connection to push-pull type of fiber optic connectors, by the present invention, is provided a mount which itself is modified for connection to push-pull type of fiber optic connectors.
Push-pull connectors are known, such as that disclosed by Umeki et al, Japanese Showa 60-218932. This connector includes an adapter equipped with an alignment sleeve and resilient catch pieces. The pieces are in cantilever form with protrusions and a claw attached to the tip of the form. The connector also includes a frame that contains an integrated ferrule and a through passageway from the rear to the front of the ferrule. The frame has protruding parts that are caught by claws of the resilient catch pieces of the adapter. A resilient inner tube shaped in the form of a round tube has an inside diameter almost equal to the outside diameter of the optical fiber cable and an outside diameter almost equal to the hole in the rear portion of the plug frame. A cord tube has a flexible part at its front end which, when inserted into the hole in the rear of the plug frame, is secured to the frame by the bending of the flexible part. The plug frame also has a finger grip mounted on its outside with raised parts. When the ferrule of the plug frame is inserted into or pulled from the alignment sleeve, the raised parts of the plug frame contact the protrusions of the cantilever form and push the resilient claws to the outside allowing the protrusions to pass. The plug frame may have a finger grip housing which is able to slide forward and backward with respect to the plug frame and, additionally, which has raised parts which release the catch of claws on the protruding parts of the plug frame when the finger grip housing is moved backward.
The present invention relates to an ADM for disconnect connection of an active device to an optical fiber of the push-pull coupling type of connector such as disclosed by Umeki et al, Japanese Showa 60-218932; Iwasa et al, Japanese Showa 62-26141; Kaihara et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,389; and Myers et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,736. Particularly, the invention relates to an ADM for the push-pull coupling type of connector disclosed by Mulholland et al, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 491,755, filed Mar. 9, 1990 still pending.
With ADM assemblies, optical emission from, for example a diode, or an optical signal to a detector, as the case may be, is transmitted successively through different transparent materials having different indices of optical refraction. A difficulty associated with conventional connector assemblies is that the light signal is scattered at the boundary between transparent materials of different indices Another difficulty is that the light signal may reflect from surfaces of the materials or from a junction of one of the materials with an air gap. Particularly, if the active device is a laser diode, and the emission is reflected backward at low angles of incidence to the reflecting surface, such backward reflection can enter the laser diode and cause instability.
An advantage of the present invention resides in an ADM with a resilient rhombic structure that permits simple press fit of the active device into the mount with resulting fit that addresses the stringent requirements of mounting and connecting active devices. Particularly, the present invention is an ADM which may be mounted in a variety of orientations on the surface of a housing. Finally, the ADM of the present invention permits connection to optical fiber connectors of the push-pull type. The present invention provides a disconnect coupling for a push-pull coupling type optical fiber connector to an active device with the same accuracy of alignment as the coupling of an optical fiber to an optical fiber while eliminating backward reflection and unnecessary loss.